This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 07/098,452 filed Sept. 18, 1987.
This invention relates to urinal devices and, specifically, to a personal urinal for females.
Various urinal devices have long been used for collecting urine from both males and females over the years, from the universally used bed pan to a personal urinal developed to be used by both males and females, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,779. There are a number of urinal designs that have been used by males and which remain relatively standardized due to the ease with which urine discharged from the penis can be collected. Use of cylindrical sleeves or funnel-like devices attached to a container into which the penis can be inserted completely collects all discharged urine flowing through the sleeve or funnel-like element.
However, attempts to develop a urinal that may be used by both males and females has met with limited success. To effectively and completely capture urine from a female requires a radically different structure than that required for males. It is more difficult to completely capture urine from a female urethra, particularly when the female is in a reclining position that is normal for patients that are ill or bed-ridden in hospitals, nursing homes, convalescent homes or at home. Prior female urinals or combination male/female urinals when used by reclining females suffered from the problem of how to avoid leakage and spillage that would soil the patient and the bed and bed coverings. Further, the combination male/female urinals are often cumbersome and complex and hard to be manipulated by the patient or only one other person.
Other attempts to provide a female urinal include a closed vessel having a bed pan shape and an extending neck with a mouth to completely surround the vulva of the user (U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,276) and a female urinal having an opening defined by a horizontal shelf to catch dripping urine and a vertical shroud to catch a horizontal stream of urine (U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,398). All of these various urinal devices can work, but are cumbersome, hard to use and their enclosed container shapes and flared necks and mouths make their manufacture expensive.
Still the most commonly used urinal device is the age-old bed pan or an updated variation of it. If the female user is heavy and/or because of the nature of an illness or injury is unable to move her legs and hips, it can take two or more persons to move the user sufficiently to be able to insert a bed pan under the user and to remove the bed pan later. Further, on occasion, nurses may inadvertently leave a female patient on a bed pan for some time which is extremely uncomfortable for the patient.
Accordingly, one primary feature of the present invention is to provide a urinal device that is shaped and dimensioned for use by a reclining female.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a female urinal device that does not require lifting of the patient's body to use.
Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a female urinal that is simple to use and can be positioned by the female user herself or any other assistant without special training.
Still another feature of the present invention is to provide a female urinal that is strong, lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture.